With the new year coming in, it’s time to cast a critical eye over the last year’s décor trends and kick a few of them aside. Here are our top ten trends to avoid in 2016:
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Mason Jars
This year was the year of the Mason jar – we saw everything from Mason jar chandeliers to salt shakers being made in the Mason jar trend. They’re useful – they’re great for storage jars, or even craft projects, but let’s face it: it’s just getting a bit out of hand. If you’ve been looking for the time to swap out your light fixtures for some weird wood-and-jar combination, or have been thinking of planning your bathroom around the ubiquitous Mason jar. Don’t.
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Burlap
If it’s not mason jars, it’s burlap. Recycling is great, sure, but when you’re buying terrible quality materials for the sake of appearing as you’ve upcycled things in your house, you should ask yourself what you’re doing. Burlap is scratchy – surely the opposite of any fabric you’re going to want – a dull colour, and way too overused. Sure, having the odd piece here and there – a cross-stitch or a curtain tie – can work, but if you’re at the point where you’re covering your couch in horrible scratchy fabric to be on-trend? You might want to stop.
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The Feature Wall
At some point, we collectively decided that it was a great idea to paint one wall a bright colour and call it a feature wall. It was meant to make the room look bigger, add a ‘pop’ of colour, and other such terms. It just makes it much harder to coordinate your furniture. Why not try something else this time – get some funky wallpaper, or invest in some gorgeous art pieces?
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The Pelmet
Having miles and miles of extra fabric around your windows can make the room seem stuffy and small. Yes, it might also give the appearance of being upmarket, and if you want to get on board with the full boho-chic look, it can work – but really, you’re safer with some made to measure roman blinds. Why made to measure, you ask? Well, that’s the best way to get a clean, well-fitted look: the very opposite of what a pelmet does!
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Chevrons
Chevrons! Why was this year the year of chevrons? Who knows! But it was. From chevron rugs to chevron feature walls, everything was all about the rambling. It’s busy, distracting and often painful on the eyes, so maybe this year, let’s stick to stripes.
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All-White/Cream Décor
Since when has painting an entire room the lightest colour you can think of been considered a good idea? Sure, it’ll look beautiful for that first day, but unless you want to spend the rest of the next year continually cleaning, you’re looking at a room that’s going to show up every possible trace of dirt.
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Blackboard Paint
Okay, this one makes sense to start. The idea of having a permanent blackboard space – either to use for lists or to build a wall that you kids are allowed to draw on – seems smart. Unfortunately, as we all know from school – blackboards get dirty and stay dirty. Eventually, your lovely black wall is going to become smeared with all the colours of the rainbow. It’s time for a change, we think.
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Wall Words
Do you want your house to look like a self-help book? No? Then stop covering your home with trite phrases like ‘love, family, life’. Then again, these are at least a step up from labelling your bath ‘bath’, and your kitchen ‘eat’. Let’s scrap this trend, shall we?
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Bathroom Carpet
Who thought it was a good idea to put carpet – an absorbent material – in a room filled with liquids. Whether it’s humidity from the shower or an accident of other kinds, a rug in your bathroom is going to get disgusting pretty quickly. It’s far easier to stick to tiles.
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Distressed Furniture
Antique furniture is one thing. Vintage furniture is a significant trend- and one we suspect will carry on well into 2016. But distressed furniture? That’s something else entirely. Making your furniture look messed up and in a bad state for the sake of looking old or retro is not worth the hassle. It’s far better to invest in something old-fashioned or of a particular era than to try to make your modern furniture look bad.
